


We Walk Alone

by ddagent



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Future Fic, Post-Betrayal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-12
Updated: 2015-11-12
Packaged: 2018-05-01 07:58:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5198267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ddagent/pseuds/ddagent
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes Phil Coulson regrets the paths he's chosen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We Walk Alone

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Agents of SHIELD or any of its characters, or settings - all belongs to Marvel and ABC.
> 
> This story contains speculation for future episodes, but no actual spoilers. 
> 
> Two fics in two days? I'm just as surprised as you are. Happy reading!

When he had first started at SHIELD, Phil Coulson had never really considered the implications of being a spy. They’d trained him to fight, to shoot, even to die. But he had never truly grasped what else there was. In the last forty-eight hours his base had been attacked, his agents and friends had been injured, even murdered. He’d been betrayed; caught up and hurt by his own emotions

 

As a cadet, sitting on the grass reading comic books whilst Melinda practiced Tai Chi, he’d never imagined _this._

 

“Sir, Zephyr One is ready to depart.”

 

Phil nodded at the agent. Taking a deep breath, he found himself walking over to the waiting plane. Rosalind Price stood, arms curled across her stomach, as she waited to depart the Playground. A fresh bruise bloomed purple under her right eye, and there were several stitches knitted along her temple. Most of his agents were sporting similar wounds. It had been a rough fight.

 

“I didn’t think you’d come see me off.”

 

Phil barely managed the shrug. “Honestly, I didn’t think I would either.”

 

He’d been under no illusions with Rosalind. He’d been involved with spies before, in both physical and romantic relationships. He’d known to some extent that she was playing him. He just hadn’t seen the _extent_. He offered no warmth, no smile. The energy that usually crackled around their conversations had faded. Phil found he missed it.

 

“I am sorry,” Rosalind admitted. “About all this. I didn’t want it to happen this way.”

 

He nodded. “I know.” He tried to force his gaze to his shoes; yet he found himself staring at her. “I don’t want to see you for a while.”

 

“Okay.”

 

The two agents escorting Rosalind off the Playground hovered close by, only moving in when Phil moved away. He watched them go, his eyes sliding down to the floor when Rosalind looked back. He kept watch as the plane took off; his feet rooted to the floor. There were plenty of things to be done: his Agency had just been dealt another devastating blow. But he couldn’t. He didn’t want to return to that world of betrayal, of broken bone and building. He wanted to go _back_. Just for a little while.

 

His feet carried him through the depths of the hanger bay to a darkened corner, looking for an old familiar friend. It seemed that luck was on his side as he encountered two. Melinda May, carrying two new bruises to her face and a couple of broken ribs, was sitting inside Lola. He approached, feeling a smile slide onto his face for the first time all day. It got even wider when he saw there was a case of beer on the passenger seat.

 

“Hi there,” Phil said, resting his arm against Lola’s windshield. “You okay?”

 

Melinda offered him a weak smile. “I miss my plane.”

 

“So you decided to steal my car?”

 

She shrugged, before reaching over to pull out a bottle for him. It was her way of inviting him to stay.  “You’ve still got the keys. I just wanted to be some place familiar for a while.”

 

He completely understood. The Playground felt alien and home all at once. Things were constantly changing and Phil wasn’t sure if could keep up. So he opened the passenger side door and rested back against the leather. The smell of his old friend welcomed him home, and Phil began to feel at ease in his own skin again.

 

“Rosalind left.” Melinda nodded, lifting her beer to her lips. “I told her that I didn’t want to see her for a while. If we have any more business with the ATCU, Mack can liaise.”  Nothing. “Daisy’s still pretty pissed about what happened.”

 

“About her lying to us, or about you sleeping with her?”

 

Phil swallowed. He deserved that. “Probably both.”

 

Melinda just shrugged. “At least she’s not Hydra.”

 

He nodded, lifting his beer up to take a long drink. His nose wrinkled at the taste. But he still took another sip before he spoke again. “I have no idea where her loyalties lie. _But_ at least she’s not evil.”

 

“Which means your recent batting average is better than mine.” Phil choked on his beer. “Ward turned out to be a Hydra supporting psychopath who’s spent the last year and a half trying to kill me, my friends, and my family.”

 

“True.”

 

“And my second chance with Andrew ended when he was transformed into a monster, murdered a string of people before shooting, kidnapping and chaining me up.”

 

Since the incident with Lash, Melinda hadn’t talked much about Andrew. He didn’t push, knowing she would talk when she was ready. He’d learnt after Bahrain not to rush her. He was glad, however, that she was separating the man and the monster. The man she’d fallen in love with years ago would never have hurt her. “You get half a point for Andrew.”

 

“You get half a point for Rosalind. Which means I still win.” Melinda took a sip of her beer. “Lucky me.”

 

Their conversation fell silent, then, both of them falling prey to their own thoughts. Phil supposed that, like betrayal and scenes of carnage, the unlikelihood of lasting romance was another subject that had never come up at the Academy. Both of their successful relationships with civilians had ended in ruins after their work had intervened. And their recent endeavours…not a chance. But, as he drained that first bottle and reached for a second, Phil realised that he had one good relationship. Something that had lasted despite the world they lived in.

 

“You mean a lot to me, Melinda. You know that, right?”

 

Melinda, lost in her own thoughts, looked across in confusion. He repeated himself. She simply smiled. “I do.”

 

They settled into their second bottle of beer, drinking silently whilst they watched the hanger bay lock down for the night. One of them, Phil wasn’t sure who, started telling old stories. The Academy, some of the best missions – and their worst. _Andrew_. They shared dim smiles and muted laughter but it was more than they had in a long, _long_ time. Some days he really hated the path he had chosen. But as long as Melinda was there to walk alongside him, he knew he’d make it to the end. 


End file.
